Cover securing means



NOV. 14, 1933. J, A, JENSEN 1,935,226

COVER SECURING MEANS Filed April 6, 1933 INKENTOR: 7 Jum s d7. Jamal,

BY W

ORNEY S.

Patented Nov. 14, 1933 v lTED STATES COVER SECURING MEANS James A.Jensen, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Quaker City Iron Works,Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application April 6,1933. Serial No. 664,690

6 Claims.

This invention relates to means for securing the covers of receptacles;and it has reference more particularly to securing means for the manholecovers of multi-compartment tanks of vehicles such as are ordinarilyemployed in transporting gasoline, oils and other liquid commodities.

The prevalent practice in vehicle tank construction is to screw themanhole covers into the w manhole openings, and to provide said coverswith smaller axial openings to enable filling of the corresponding tankcompartments, said smaller openings being in turn protected bysupplemental hinged connected covers. To facilitate manipulation ofthesesupplemental covers "from one side of the tank, it is desirablethat their hinges be parallel'to the longitudinal axis of the tank. Dueto lack of uniformity in machining the screw threads, it is impossibleto screw down the manhole covers tightly and at the same timepredetermine disposal of the hinges of the supplemental covers in thementioned desired relation, particularly when compressible sealinggaskets are used in association with the manhole covers. The aim of myinvention is to overcome the drawback to which attention has beendirected, or in other words, to make it possible to tightly secure themanhole covers in a definite circumferential relation to the manholeopenno ings which will predetermine alignment of the in parallelism withthe tank axis. This object I attain as hereinafter more fully disclosed,through provision of wedge blocks, which, by means of exteriorlymanipulatable bolts, are caused to coact with pendant bevel projectionsinternally of the manhole cover and thereby urged laterally outward intoengagement with the screw threads of the manhole, while the manholecover is concurrently drawn into sealing relation with the edge of saidopening. 7

In the attached drawing, Fig. I is a fragmentary View, partly in sideelevation and partly in longitudinal section; of a vehicle tank showingone of the manhole structures of the latter and embodyingthecover'securing means of my invention.

Fig. II shows the organization in plan with a portion of the manholestructure broken away and in section to expose details of the securingmeans, the view being taken as indicated by the arrows II-II in Fig. I.

Fig. III is a perspective View of one of the wedge blocks of my improvedcover securing means.

supplemental filling hole cover hinges accurately With more detailedreference to these illustrations, the numeral 5 designates an annuluswhich constitutes the side wall of a manhole 6 leading into one of thecompartments of the vehicle tank whereof the shell is indicated at '7,said annulus having internal screw threads 8, and being permanentlyunited to the tank by welding as conventionally indicated at 9. Themanhole cover 10 has acentral filling orifice 11 protected by asupplemental quick-opening? cover 12, said cover 12 being attached tothe manhole cover by a hinge connection 13 and yieldingly urged toclosed position by a torsion spring 14 surrounding the hinge pin 15. Aring 16 having threaded engagement at 17 with the neck 18 of the manholecover 10 and formed with grasp handles 19, serves as a means for lockingthe supplemental cover 12 closed with an internal annular ridge 20thereof engaging a sealing gasket 21 recessed into the top edge of thefilling opening 11. A suitable form of vent valve 22' serves to relievevapor pressure of the gasoline in the tank 7, said valve being screwedupward into a laterally-ported axial dome-like projection 23 of thesupplemental cover 12.

For the purpose of securing the manhole cover 10 to' the wall annulus 5of the manhole 6 in accordance with my invention, I provide a number ofwedge blocks 25 whereof one is illustrated in perspective in Fig. III.As shown, these wedge blocks 25 have frontal teeth 26 adapted to engagethe internal screw threads 8 of the maniole 5, and rear bevels 27adapted to oppose the bevels 28 of spaced parallel pairs ofcircumferentially arranged pendant projections 29 of the 9 manhole cover10. The wedge blocks 25 moreover have central apertures 30 .for passageof connecting bolts 31, and parallel ridges 32 on their, bottom faces toopposite sides of the apertures for engaging polygonal heads 33 on saidbolts to hold the latter against turning. From Fig. I it will be. notedthat the bolts 31 extend up in the interval between the pairedprojections 29 and out through apertured bosses 34 of the manhole cover10 for attachment of nuts 35 to their projecting A threaded ends. I

With the described construction, it will be seen that tightening of thenuts 35 on the bolts 31 will cause the wedge blocks 25 to be drawnupward, while, through coaction between the op- 195 posing bevels 27 and28, said wedge blocks will be at the same time urged laterally outwardinto engagement with the-internal threads 8 of the manhole wall 5. Alsoat the same time, the

cover 10 will be drawn downward to compress a gasket 36circumferentially' interposed between it and the top edge of saidmanhole wall with resultant formation of a fluid-tight seal at thejoint. It will be further apparent that the de scribed arrangementenables sealing of the manhole cover 10 in a definite circumferentialrelation to the manhole 6 such that the hinge axis 15 of thesupplemental filling hole cover 12 is predisposed accurately in parallelrelation to the longitudinal axis of the tank 7. This is highlyadvantageous in connection with multi-compartment tanks in that itrenders convenient and easy, the opening and closing of the filler holecovers of the several compartments all from one side or" the vehicle,with attendant saving of time in the performance of these operations bythe driver. Preferably I make the pitch or spacing of the teeth 26 onthe wedge blocks 25 as a multiple division of the pitch of the threads 8of the manhole opening 6 as shown in Fig. I. Accordingly the wedgeblocks 25 can be used with manifolds wherein the screw threads varycorrespond ingly in pitch.

While I have particularly shown and described my invention in connectionwith manhole covers of vehicle tanks, it is obvious that the same may beemployed in connection with receptacle covers generally,'wherein, forany reason, it is important or desirable that the cover, when in closedand sealed position, occupy a definite circumferential relation to thereceptacle opening.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. Receptacle cover securing means comprising circumferentially-arrangedwedge blocks with teeth adapted to engage screw threads internally ofthe receptacle opening, and with rear bevels adapted to be opposed bypendant bevel projections on the cover; and means accessible at theexterior and operable after placement of the cover in any desiredcircumferential position, to draw upon the wedge blocks, whereby,through coaction between the bevels on the latter and the bevelprojections on the cover, said blocks are urged laterally outward toengage the screw threads of the receptacle opening, and the cover isconcurrently clamped into sealing contact with the receptacle mouth.

2. Receptacle cover securing means comprising circumferentialiy arrangedwedge blocks with frontal teeth adapted to engage screw threadsinternally of the receptacle opening, and with rear bevels adapted to beopposed by pendant bevel projections on the cover; and connecting boltsextending up through the cover for accessibility at the exterior andoperable after placement of the cover in any desired circumferentialposition, to draw upon the wedge blocks, whereby,

through coaction between the bevels of the latter and the bevelprojections of the cover, said blocks are urged laterally outward intoengagement with the screw threads of the receptacle opening, and thecover is concurrently clamped into sealing contact with the receptaclemouth.

3. Receptacle cover securing means comprising circumferentially arrangedwedge blocks with frontal teeth adapted to engage screw threadsinternally of the receptacle opening, and with rear bevels adapted to beopposed by pendant bevel projections on the cover; connecting bolts heldagainst rotation through engagement of polygonal heads thereof betweenparallel lugs on the wedge blocks and having their shanks extending upthrough said blocks and out through the cover; and nuts on theprotruding ends of the bolts, operable, after placement of the cover inany desired circumferential position, to cause upward pull upon thewedge blocks, whereby, through coaction between the bevels on the latterwith the opposing bevel lugs on the cover, said blocks are urgedlaterally outward into engagement with the internal screw threads of thereceptacle opening, and the cover is concurrently clamped into sealingcontact with the receptacle mouth.

4. Means for securing the manhole covers of vehicle tanks, comprisingcircumferentially arranged wedge blocks with frontal teeth adapted toengage screw threads internally of the manhole opening, and with rearbevels adapted to be opposed by internal pendant bevel projections onthe cover; and means accessible at the exterior and operable aftercircumferential placement of the manhole cover to align the hinge axisof a supplemental filling hole cover thereon with the longitudinal axisof the tank, to draw upon the wedge blocks, whereby, through coactionbetween the bevels of the latter and the opposing bevel projections ofthe manhole cover, said blocks are urged laterally outward intoengagement with the internal screw threads of the manhole opening, andthe manhole cover is concurrently clamped into sealing contact with theedge of the manhole opening.

5. Securing means for manhole covers of vehicle tanks, comprisingcircumferentially ararranged wedge blocks with frontal teeth adapted toengage screw threads internally of the manhole opening, and with rearbevels adapted to be opposed by internal pendant bevel projections onthe cover; and connecting bolts extending up through the cover foraccessibility at the exterior and operable, after circumferentialplacement of the manhole cover to align the hinge axis of asupplemental'filling hole cover thereon with the longitudinal axisof thetank, to draw upon the wedge blocks, whereby, through coaction betweenthe bevels of the latter and the bevel projections on the manhole cover,said blocks are urged laterally outward into engagement'with the screwthreads of the manhole opening, and the manhole cover is concurrentlyclamped into sealing contact with the edge of the manhole opening.

6. Securing means for the manhole covers of vehicle tanks, comprisingcircumferentially arranged wedge blocks with frontal teeth adapted toengage screw threads internally of the manhole opening, and with rearbevels adapted to be opposed by internal pendant bevel projections onthe cover; and connecting bolts held against actuation throughengagebent of poly onal heads thereof between parallel lugs on the wedgeblocks, and having their shanks extending up through said blocks and outthrough the cover; and nuts on the protruding ends of the bolts operableafter circumferential placement of the manhole cover to align the hingeaxis of a supplemental filling opening cover thereon with thelongitudinal axis of the tank, to cause upward pull on the wedge blocks,whereby, through coaction between the bevels of said blocks and theopposing bevels of the projections on the manhole cover, said blocks areurged laterally outward into engagement with the internal screw threadsof the manhole opening, and the manhole cover is concurrently clampedinto sealing contact with the edge of the manhole opening.

JAMES A. JENSEN.

